Public Safety

In 2007, the number of people who died on Virginia roads surpassed 1,000 for the first time in nearly two decades.
That grim toll marked a turning point. Traffic fatalities statewide have exceeded 800 only one year since.
Safety advocates point to a multitude of changes and trends in explaining the drop. Among them: stricter licensing for young drivers, anti-DUI laws, educational and law enforcement campaigns, increased seat belt use, safer roads and better vehicles.

HILLSVILLE — Carroll County officials will seek public comment on the idea of setting up a volunteer force to work with the sheriff’s office.
The hearing will be at the board of supervisors’ November meeting.
The supervisors initially approval the concept at their September meeting.
Sheriff J.B. Gardner explained that the force would consist of veteran officers who have retired or those who have graduated from the police academy but haven’t found a job.

FRIES — Family members of Samuel Joseph Sheehi are asking for community assistance in finding the missing Fries man.
The family is working with Twin County law enforcement to find Sheehi, who has been missing for two weeks.
Family members say 32-year-old Sheehi was last seen Oct. 10.
He is about six feet tall and weighs 180 pounds, with a medium build, blue eyes, and buzz cut blond hair. He wears oversized clothing and has several tattoos.

INDEPENDENCE — A legitimate contest or sweepstakes will never ask a winner to pay money in advance to get their prize, cautions Grayson Sheriff Richard Vaughan.
A local woman almost fell for such a scam, but a family member and the sheriff intervened before any money was lost.
The Grayson Sheriff’s Office is warning of a scam involving a sweepstakes award and pre-paid debit cards from Walmart.

HILLSVILLE — At least one person in Carroll County feels good about a new ordinance that calls for methamphetamine makers to clean up their drug labs after conviction.
The Carroll County Board of Supervisors held a required public hearing on the idea, already approved by places like Galax, at the Oct. 9 meeting.
When Supervisors’ Chairman Sam Dickson saw that no citizens signed up to speak, he asked Sheriff J.B. Gardner if he wanted to say anything.

Kevin H. Frazier, 28, of Galax was arrested and charged with drug possession on Oct. 18, according to Police Chief Rick Clark.
Frazier was charged after a routine traffic stop, according to the report. Police Officer Chris Hines suspected that Frazier’s vehicle was improperly registered.

HILLSVILLE — Carroll deputies have charged a 24-year-old Woodlawn man with multiple counts of breaking and entering and grand larceny.
Cody Lee Sizemore is being held at the New River Valley Regional Jail after an investigation by Donnie Spangler of the Carroll Sheriff’s Office.
The larcenies of jewelry and firearms occurred from June to September. Spangler said that the sheriff’s office received a tip that Sizemore was involved.

An illegal Grayson County marijuana operation has forfeited around $10,000 of its equipment to local agriculture classes.
Authorities zeroed in an on what they called the “largest indoor marijuana operation in Grayson history” last year after the suspects stole electricity to grow their crops.
The complaint filed by Appalachian Power Co. led to law enforcement going to the address and discovering that the stolen power was being used to run the operation.

CANA — An 82-year-old Cana man died in a single-vehicle crash on Bear Trail Road at about 8:45 a.m. Monday.
A Virginia State Police report identified the victim as Garnett William Willard from Cana.
Willard had been driving a 1999 Ford F150 at the time of the accident when it went off the left side of the road and struck a tree on Bear Trail, about three-quarters of a mile east of Polar Lane.
The medical examiner will conduct an investigation into the cause of death.
Cana Fire and Rescue responded to the scene to assist.